The process of turning raw ingredients into edible products is an age-old practice and has a presence across the world. With each food manufacturing sector a number of jobs are generated, giving employment to skilled and unskilled candidates at many levels. As the food manufacturing industry continues to grow, there is demand for skilled, talented and experienced candidates from time to time. Openings for interns and early career professionals continue to open as the food manufacturing industry evolves and experiments with known ingredients. The first step to find jobs in this sector is to look for manufacturing companies near me and forward your resume or application for hire.
What is food manufacturing?
Also called the food production industry, food manufacturing is the use of diverse methods and equipment to turn raw materials into food. The food manufacturing industry is broadly divided into primary and secondary production. The production from plants or animals is called primary production and constitutes the core segment of the industry in all markets.
In the second type, which is the secondary production method, food is processed extensively to make more complex food products. For example the chopping of tomatoes for a salad is primary production. However, if the same tomatoes are ‘processed’ that are chopped, cooked, pulped and seasoned into a sauce or ketchup and bottled for long-term use, it is called secondary production.
Apart from these methods, there are several other ways as well. Baking, pickling, butchering, fermenting, pasteurizing are some of the important examples of food manufacturing.
The food and drink manufacturing industry can be roughly divided into over 30 industries. These industries can include meat, fish processing to grain milling and malting’s. The more common and visible food manufacturing units are the bakeries, sugar confectionery and small home units for fruit and vegetable processing.
Then the oils and fats industry are very diversified and offers a very broad range of oil and fat products for consumption. The most common food processing methods are peeling off the outer layers of the raw materials, hopping and slicing, mincing, liquefaction and fermentation.
Other aspects of food manufacturing industry
Although food manufacturing is a core industry that supports a nation’s economy, it is highly vulnerable to a number of factors. Businesses need to invest extensively to procure raw materials, process it and hold it storage until sale. In the process, a number of other aspects come into play like:
Food safety is a top priority as the manufacturers need to ensure that the product is free from contamination
- Chemical hazards occur naturally due to the inherent quality of food to degenerate or ferment. Some of these could be dangerous for human consumption.
- Food waste can negatively impact food security.
- The market is increasingly conscious of unprocessed food consumption.
- As a result, minimally processed foods are slightly altered for longer storage, preparation and consumption
- In fact, agriculture is now considered to part of the manufacturing industry
Considering the very wide-range of food manufacturing industries, in all parts of the world, finding a job in this industry should not be much of a challenge!
Finding manufacturing companies near me
While word-of-mouth is the easiest way to get hired at manufacturing companies near me, you can consider other search alternatives if you do stay near a manufacturing hub. You can look up industry newspapers, newsletters, emails and industry networking platforms. The diverse nature of the food manufacturing industry means that there are unlimited job opportunities, even if you are looking for short-term jobs, internships or executive level jobs in these units.